Orlando Perez was rappelling during a training exercise when he lost his grip and fell, striking his spine on his own rucksack. The impact led to a tumor on his spinal cord, and the surgery to remove it left him paralyzed from the waist down. For three years afterward, he sat with the loss, depressed and unsure what came next. Then, during a visit to the San Juan VA Medical Center, his wife and mother spotted a poster for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games and pushed him to give it a shot.
That single nudge changed everything. Today Perez competes on Puerto Rico's national wheelchair basketball team, has represented Team USA at two Paralympic Winter Games as an adaptive skier, and won the event's Spirit of the Games Award. More recently, he has become something else entirely: a mentor to the veterans walking the same road he once did.
From Overwhelmed to In Charge
Perez's story, reported this week by VA News, is a reminder of what adaptive sport can do beyond the scoreboard. He has described feeling completely overwhelmed the first time he rolled into the Games as a competitor. Now he is the veteran other newcomers look for in the hallway, the one who tells them the fear fades and the community stays.
That arc, from spectator to competitor to mentor, is the whole point of events like the Wheelchair Games. The 2026 National Veterans Wheelchair Games marked the 45th year of the event, co-presented by the VA and Paralyzed Veterans of America, drawing roughly 500 veteran athletes to Detroit for a week of competition in sports ranging from wheelchair basketball and rugby to archery, handcycling, and slalom. For many veterans managing a spinal cord injury, MS, or another mobility-limiting condition, it is often the first time since their injury that they compete again.
Why Community Sport Matters for Recovery
Perez's account tracks with what researchers and clinicians have said for years: physical activity and peer community are two of the strongest levers available for veterans working through depression, isolation, or the identity loss that can follow a life-altering injury. He didn't find his way back through a single conversation or program requirement. He found it because someone put him in a gym with other veterans who understood exactly what he was carrying, and let the training and the competition do the rest.
That is also why Operation WarriorFit exists. Endurance and obstacle events, marathons, triathlons, and 5Ks build the same kind of forced community and shared purpose that pulled Perez off the sidelines, whether or not a race requires a wheelchair, a prosthetic, or nothing more than a good pair of shoes.
A Community Open to Every Veteran
Perez now describes his life in terms most people would envy, saying he wouldn't trade it, tumor and all, because of the friends and purpose it brought him. Not every veteran will find their way to a national competition, but the underlying lesson travels well beyond Detroit: showing up to move your body alongside other people who get it can be the turning point.
If you're a veteran, service member, or first responder looking for that same kind of push, check your eligibility for a free race entry through Operation WarriorFit. You don't need to be chasing a medal. You just need to be ready to start.